Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will publish her Department's impact assessments of the effect of trade deals with (a) Australia and (b) New Zealand on Wales.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Department for International Trade’s impact assessments of the UK-Australia and UK-New Zealand Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) were published on 17th December 2021 and 28th February 2022 respectively, and include impacts on the nations and regions of the UK and on sectors of the economy.
They also describe the potential impacts on the agri-food sectors for the UK in section 4 of the document. Sectoral impacts by nation and region are not available.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the Government conducted impact assessments of the effect of trade deals with (a) Australia and (b) New Zealand on (a) the agriculture sector and (b) all other sectors in Wales.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Department for International Trade’s impact assessments of the UK-Australia and UK-New Zealand Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) were published on 17th December 2021 and 28th February 2022 respectively, and include impacts on the nations and regions of the UK and on sectors of the economy.
They also describe the potential impacts on the agri-food sectors for the UK in section 4 of the document. Sectoral impacts by nation and region are not available.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of negotiating as part of a trade agreement between the UK and the US a change in the level of actionable limits for foreign bodies in food sold in the US.
Answered by George Hollingbery
I refer the Hon. Member for Cardiff Central to the answer I gave on 22 July 2019, UIN: 277768.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential response from the EU on the Government's plan to maintain zero tariffs on (a) eggs, (b) cereals, (c) fruit and (d) vegetables imported into the UK in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement.
Answered by George Hollingbery
Many UK agri-food products would face substantial tariffs on exports to the EU in a no deal scenario. Consistent with WTO rules, the EU must apply tariffs equally to imports from all countries where there is no trade agreement or any other preferential arrangement in place. In the event of no deal, this includes the UK. There has been no indication that the EU would modify their tariff policy as a result of our exit or following the publication of the UK’s ‘Most Favoured Nation’ schedule, the temporary tariff.
However, the Government’s intention in setting the temporary tariff has been to balance producer and consumer impacts in a way that is broadly neutral in its impact on agri-food production and consumption patterns.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of tariffs imposed by the EU on the competitiveness of the UK's export of (a) eggs, (b) cereals, (c) fruit and (d) vegetables to the EU; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of such tariffs on the agricultural sector.
Answered by George Hollingbery
The Government’s priority is to leave the EU with a deal, ensuring that goods trade with the EU remains tariff free. If the UK leaves the EU without a deal in place, both the UK and EU would be subject to their respective Most Favoured Nation (MFN) rules for trade in goods. The EU has been clear that they would apply their MFN tariffs on UK exports in this scenario. We anticipate that the application of EU tariffs on UK exports would have some negative impacts on the UK farming sector, on produce where a high proportion of production is exported to the EU.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether it is his Department's policy that food which meets the standards of the US Food and Drug Administration’s food defect levels handbook guidance will be saleable in the UK in the event of a free trade agreement with the US.
Answered by George Hollingbery
We do not wish to pre-empt discussions relating to a future UK-US trade deal, however the Government is proud of our high standards of food safety and these will not be watered down when we leave the EU. High standards and high quality are what our domestic and global customers demand, and that is what we will provide.
It is vital that we explore new trading opportunities, but these should not mean a dilution of the standards for which British food is world renowned.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the annual gross value of tariffs that would be paid by UK businesses on exports in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement.
Answered by George Hollingbery
The UK remains committed to leaving the EU with a deal prior to the 31st October, however should it leave without a deal, UK producers may face new tariffs on some of their exports, which importers of their products will be liable to pay. The annual gross value of these tariffs would be subject to the volume of trade that is likely to take place after exit, as well as the tariff rates applied by specific trading partners.
Information on the current EU’s Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariff rates are published by the Commission at the following website: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32018R1602&from=EN
UK producers who export to existing preferential trading partners by virtue of existing EU free trade agreements may face these countries’ MFN tariff rates, but only where these agreements have not been successfully rolled over prior to leaving. To date, the UK has signed or agreed in principle agreements with countries that account for 63% of the UK’s trade with all the countries with which the UK is seeking continuity in the event of a potential No Deal (based on total goods and services trade - imports and exports - with the UK, according to ONS data, 2018). Work is continuing intensively on remaining agreements.
There will be no change to the tariff rates faced by UK exporters exporting to countries with which we do not have a preferential trading agreement.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the US Administration's potential demands on food standards as part of negotiations on a trade deal.
Answered by George Hollingbery
The Government has made it clear that any future deal with the US must work for UK consumers, farmers and food manufacturers as well as protecting the UK’s high standards of food safety, animal welfare and environmental protection.
It is too soon to say what would be covered in a future UK-US deal.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the Government has a WTO trade schedule prepared for 29 March 2019.
Answered by George Hollingbery
The Government has prepared and lodged at the WTO UK-only schedules for both goods and services. These were lodged on 24 July 2018 for goods and 3 December 2018 for services. Copies were placed in the House Library. Both are ready to become operational on 29 March 2019 if a Withdrawal Agreement is not agreed with the EU.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on UK consumer and food standards regulations which meet the US Trade Priorities and Accountability Act definition of an unjustified (a) sanitary or (b) phytosanitary restriction and (c) an unjustified technical barrier.
Answered by George Hollingbery
My Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade has spoken on numerous occasions to the United States Trade Representative, and there have been four meetings of the UK-US Trade and Investment Working Group to date, involving discussions between representatives of the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States on a range of matters. We cannot negotiate any trade agreements whilst we are still members of the EU.
Any future trade agreements must work for UK producers, businesses, and consumers, and uphold the UK’s high levels of food safety, animal welfare standards, and environmental protection.